Saba: Under the Hyena’s Foot

At the Top of Fasil Gemb

After her teacher leaves, Saba wanders the room. She feels like one of the caged lions; she just has to get out. When she leaves, the girl appears with her umbrella, but Saba waves her away. She just has to untangle this knot. Her teacher’s words spin around her head. What did they mean?

In Emama’s stories, there’s usually some kind of lesson. What would she say? She can’t figure it out on her own. Where is her brother? Why is he too busy to call for her? Saba closes her eyes, trying to think. She becomes aware that the compound is starting to wake up. The azmaris are standing nearby.

One of them pushes a pointed stick into the ground and attaches a doll to it. Then, the musician moves the horsehair bow up and down the string of his fiddle. The doll begins to dance. There’s a string that goes from the doll to the bow.

Suddenly, the compound explodes with noise, and a crowd of soldiers appears. A musician announces that General Ali comes to Gondar to hold up the King of Kings. The general’s face is calm and impassive, but he looks as if he’s used to giving orders and being obeyed. Saba watches him dismount his horse and enter Fasil Gemb.

Saba’s teacher told her that Fasil Gemb was once beautiful, with a mosaic of colors on the ceiling and plates of ivory. Now, many of the decorations are smashes, but the castle is still quite elegant. Of course! Mesfin must be studying in this castle.

Taking a deep breath, Saba turns and walks purposefully up the steps of Fasil Gemb. A guard looks up as she marches through the door, but he doesn’t stop her. Nobody speaks to her as she walks down the hall. She glances into the room where they previously met the emperor, but now it’s empty. Saba can see the remnants of ivory and pearl patterns on the couch, but cotton is peeking out of the cloth. Nothing is as beautiful as it once was in Gondar.

Some rooms have velvet hangings or tusks of animals, or glistening black pottery. Other rooms are bleak and empty. When Saba and her brother come to live here, she’ll order all rooms are made beautiful again. She begins to get nervous. She is sure she’ll see a sign of Mesfin soon. But as she goes from room to room, she doesn’t see anything signaling to her that he is or had been in this place.

Soon, Saba finds herself climbing a staircase higher and higher. When she emerges to an opening, she can see the trees that crowd the castle. She can see mountains in the distance. Saba tastes salty tears dripping down her cheeks. She knows that she and Mesfin came from somewhere over those mountains. They stood between Emama and her. What was Emama doing now? Was she planting the crops? Maybe now she’s moved to the village to be closer to people.

A movement catches Saba’s eye. She peers down carefully and sees Emperor Yohannes III walking with two others. One is his wife, and the third is General Ali. Guards stand respectfully at a distance. Saba studies their motions as they talk. They all look quite unhappy with each other. In fact, they appear almost angry. At any moment, Saba is sure she will see her brother slip out of the castle to join them. Mesfin may still be a child in their eyes, but he has his own power.

But, as Saba waits with hope in her eyes, her brother never comes out. Instead the three people in the garden scatter in different directions when they’re done talking. They remind Saba of the hens that she pushes from their nests in search of eggs. Saba sighs and starts carefully down the stairs. Emama once said, “Boys and smoke both disappear.” How true her words are in Gondar.